I had never given bathroom signs much thought until after reading this article. At first, I thought this blog post was going to be one big complaint from the woman’s perspective on how we are viewed as the weaker or less dominant between males and females. The most common symbol for the restrooms in America depict a solid figure of a man with legs and a solid figure of a woman with a triangular shape of a dress. Both figures are essentially equal in shape and size, it was just designed so that the common man and woman could easily recognize which door enter. In my opinion, there is nothing sexist or offending to have it this way because it is a simple way for men and women to realize which is women or men.
Bathroom signs and symbols can differ based on where they are. Typically, restrooms in bars or clubs or places that tend to have themes will have clever bathroom symbols. Usually, bar or club bathroom signs will be crude and are designed to be comical to those who have been drinking and out are out that night looking for a good time. They are not meant to offend anyone or suggest certain opinions about gender, they are just to make people laugh and take note of the cleverness.
As a woman, one of the bathroom symbols really stood out to me from the blog. The picture of the males restroom sign was a normal male symbol, a solid figure with a head, shoulders, two arms, a full body, and two legs also known as, the universal male bathroom symbol. Rather than having the women’s bathroom have that same, universal restroom symbol, minus the legs and some form of skirt representation instead. The designer used a fully-bloomed white flower with a stem and a leaf. There was know written indication of which were which, but the male restroom was self explanatory as to which one it was. There was no way of knowing if the doors were right beside each other from the picture, but I know I would easily figure out the flower door was the woman’s restroom if they were near each other. On the other hand, if the bathrooms were in two different locations, How would a woman ever know their restroom was behind a door with a flower on it? I think it’s a compliment to have a beautiful, white flower as the womanly symbol, but how would we ever know that is associated with the restroom? To some, this also brings up the argument of whether women are considered equal to men. The statement underneath the image said, “Who wants to be a person when you could be a delicate, beautiful flower instead?” Some women might get really offended when they think of it in this light. I would think women would see it as a compliment because we are being referred to as delicate and beautiful. Also, the color white represents our purity and elegance.
Bathroom symbols differ everywhere. Some, may cause arguments and suggest certain opinions about gender, sexuality or patriarchy, but the bottom line is, they are just there to notify people of which door will lead to urinals and which door will lead to toilets. People should not get so agitated over the sign on the bathroom, it is just a sign created by a human being just like you and me.
Nice job. I understand what you're saying concerning the flower, but doesn't is seem odd that the men's sign is designated with a person, but the women's sign is a representation? If the men's sign used something like a pine tree, it would still be stereotyping, but at least it would make more sense. It's so incongruous to essentially say, "Here is where the men use the bathroom, and here is where the pretty, delicate, pure things, also known as women, use the bathroom." Additionally, what if you're physically a woman, yet you don't identify as someone who values a sense of purity or virginity, or you're not conventionally pretty, or you don't think of yourself as delicate? The bathroom becomes not a space for all women, but a space inviting to only some women. It's something to think about.
ReplyDelete